Design
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Love it or hate it, the BMW 3-series Coupe has a lot going for it - price, performance and features are all at a sweet spot for the market. That makes it a prime candidate for aftermarket add-ons, as owners of the popular car seek to differentiate their particular example. Enter Lumma Design with a tasteful set of upgrades that won't set off the 'spaetzel' detectors of most critics. Homing in on what makes most 3-series Coupe owners tick, Lumma offers only appearance upgrades for the car so far, including chrome exhaust pipes, a front, rear and side skirt kit, plus a trunk-lid spoiler, roof...
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Student designers tapped for Audi 'Intelligent Emotion' project
The future of automotive mobility is a question that has always captivated the mind of the carmaker and the driver alike. Today Audi takes its turn to give us a glimpse into what they think the future may hold, seen through the eyes of design students at the Munich University of Applied Sciences...
Alex Kaufmann -
The story behind BMW's Salt Flat Racer of 2025
According to BMW's 'MINI Space' team of engineers and designers, race cars of the future may be built out of old oil drums, bomb shells and BBQ grills - oh and did we mention goldfish? While it may seem like the parts list for a race car out of a Dr. Seuss book, in reality the project by BMW to...
Alex Kaufmann -
Columbian-designed Peugeot RD displayed in Shanghai
Peugeot's annual competition for up-and-coming designers for 2008 was a tough battle - the field was narrowed from around 2,500 contenders to a mere 29 finalists, and the winner was chosen as the best of that select group. The theme of the competition was to "imagine the Peugeot in the worldwide...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
A FAB Design SLR supercar named Desire
Specialist Mercedes Benz tuner FAB Design has already taken on the controversial Maybach 57S limousine this year, but now the company has revealed its most astonishing work to date - this time on the Mercedes McLaren SLR supercar. The most striking aspect of the FAB Design SLR 'Desire' at first...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mazda's ex-head of design goes to Renault
In the seemingly never-ending merry-go-round of the automotive design world, the latest update is Laurens van den Acker's arrival at Renault. Last month van den Acker resigned from his post at the head of Mazda's design operations, but did not reveal his plans for the future. Now van den Acker will...
Nelson Ireson -
Ugur Sahin, the Dutch-based designer of the previous Ferrari Dino study, has plans to put one of his latest creations, the stunning Z03 Corvette concept into production. The car looks similar to the Dino concept, as well as the Ferrari 599-based Vandenbrink GTO but is designed around a much cheaper donor car to make it more accessible. Ugur Sahin, and his self-titled Ugur Sahin Design group, have now joined forces with Ohio-based Mallett Cars to start building the cars. You may remember Mallet as the same company that offered a widebody V8 conversion for the Pontiac Solstice, and now it will...
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Ikuo Maeda takes lead at Mazda design
The car industry's design shakeup isn't over yet, folks. Today has already seen a new head of design at Volvo and at Ford of the Americas, but now the former Ford-family brand, Mazda, has also decided to change things up. Replacing Laurens van den Acker, Ikuo Maeda takes the helm of Mazda's design...
Kenneth Hall -
Ford design director Peter Horbury takes head design job at Volvo
Late last week Steve Mattin decided to leave his job as Volvo's design guru, and already the company has found a replacement in the form of Peter Horbury. The new design director will take up his pencil on May 1. Horbury comes fresh from the same position - executive director of design - at Ford...
Nelson Ireson -
Bertone, Morgan & Zagato Planning New Concepts For Italy’s Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
This year's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Italy is set to be a cracker, with three concept car world premiers planned from bespoke coachbuilders Stile Bertone and Zagato, and a retro sports-car for Morgan. The concept from Bertone is a highly anticipated V8 two-seater built with lightweight...
Jeremy Weber -
Steve Mattin, designer of Volvo S60 Concept, leaves company
Swedish media are reporting today that Steve Mattin, Volvo's design director, is leaving the company. The departure marks the end of a four-year tenure during which time Mattin was responsible for designs including the 2010 XC60 and the highly controversial S60 Concept shown a this year's Detroit...
Nelson Ireson -
JE Design takes the wraps off Progressor Cayenne
Porsche itself has recently gotten into the game of modifying its Cayenne SUV, so it's no wonder the vehicle has been a favorite of the tuner crowd for years. Though JE Design's latest creation may not have the exclusivity of the GTS Design Edition 3 revealed today, it does have a flavor all its...
Alex Kaufmann -
With its skinny, spoked open wheels and an open-air cabin, the Mercedes Benz F-CELL Roadster looks more like the cars of the turn of the 20th century than those of the 21st, but design students blended the two to illustrate a point. The combination of old and new symbolizes a rebirth of thinking about how to build and power cars. As the name suggests, the F-CELL Roadster is powered by a 1.2kW fuel-cell system. Using drive-by-wire technology and a joystick to control the action, the car is capable of up to 15mph (25km/h) and has an estimated range of up to 217mi (350km). Though the car is...
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Inden Design releases 680hp White Angel SL 65 AMG
It is the the chromatic opposite of AMG's own SL 65 Black Edition, but it comes out remarkably similar on paper. A generous 680hp (507kW) unleashes the potential of the SL 65 AMG, exceeding output of the Black edition by almost 20hp (15kW). The SL 65s are known for being a bit heavy, however, with...
Alex Kaufmann -
Mercedes-Benz takes BMW designer Karim Habib
Chris Bangle left BMW just a few weeks ago, and now 7-series designer Karim Habib has signed on with the company's main rival, Mercedes-Benz. The job puts him directly under Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener. Habib will be responsible for the F-series of vehicles at Mercedes. One of the most...
Alex Kaufmann -
Stealth focused Audi R8 ‘Blackbird’ upgraded with police laser scrambler
Back in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the world's two superpowers were locked in a technology race to develop their military capabilities fastest. Out of this came the idea of 'stealth' aircraft like the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, which provided the inspiration for this highly-modified...
Jeremy Weber -
Daimler wants focus on vehicle interiors, creates new ‘center of excellence’
There’s no award for recognizing that the current quality and design of vehicle interiors for luxury brands like Mercedes Benz and BMW, traditional stalwarts of the industry, aren’t up to the reputation that their names once commanded. It’s not so much that the quality has...
Ralph Hanson -
EDAG Presents Light Car Concept At Geneva Motor Show
German firm EDAG - short for Engineering & Design, AG - has unveiled its latest concept for a futuristic car at the Geneva Motor Show today. The car's key elements center around materials and construction, though its official name - 'Light Car - Open Source' - indicates an ideology that...
Alex Kaufmann -
The Instituto Europeo di Design (IED) is a massive six-city, three-country school that is one of Europe's foremost centers for fledgling automotive designers. The students there have collaborated with DR Motor Company to produce a trio of 1/4 scale supercar models. Dubbed Action (blue), Spirit (red/purple) and Soul (orange), the three concepts are all designed by first-year Master of Arts in Transportation Design students at the IED. All three came out of a project intended to evoke a street car from motorsports inspiration. Some of the cars bear resemblances to supercars past and present...
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Gordon Murray's T25 City Car Officially On Sale
News of Gordon Murray's decision to build a low-cost city car created quite a stir when it was announced last year. That stir was in part because of the key driving force behind the project, Gordon Murray, ex-McLaren F1 designer and the pen behind the Caparo T1, but also because the car itself is...
Kenneth Hall -
Vizualtech envisages future of hot-rodding
Vizualtech, a Swedish design and engineering firm that specializes in constructing virtual 3D models of cars and boats, has just released a new set of images of a futuristic hot-rod. Depicted is a computer generated rendering of the company’s Delithium, a speedster designed to run on...
James Martinez -
Audi Design Competition SPORE: the future of Audi design?
Like bell-bottom jeans, tie-dyed shirts and shoulder-length hair - on men - some things capture the style of an era. It's easy to look back and see what defined the hippie culture, or the beatniks or even the mods, rockers and punks of the '80s. But looking forward is an altogether different task...
Alex Kaufmann -
2010 Mustang officially priced to start under $21,000
The 2010 Ford Mustang was revealed in full detail at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, but today Ford released official pricing on the new pony car. Featuring a completely new exterior, thoroughly updated cabin, and a refined engine lineup, the facelifted car is primed to take on the still-new Dodge...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
New details on FAB Design Maybach 57S
Putting an already overwrought car through the tuner's wringer usually results in some pretty horrific ocular torture, and while the FAB Design Maybach 57 certainly qualifies, it adds a distinct element of sport that seems oddly congruent with the car's inherent design. Today FAB revealed more...
Alex Kaufmann